Wow, that happened fast. UC Davis called this morning to say that I could bring him tomorrow morning for the initial consult, then they could do the amputation in the afternoon. Depending on how he recovers, we can pick him up Wednesday or Thursday. I am so glad to have this finally scheduled. He’s been limping around, dangling it and generally looking miserable. Last night we ordered ababy gate for the stairs, new pad for his crate, and hallway runners so he won’t slip on the hardwood floors. Today we orderd a ramp for him to go up into the back of the vehicle, and got a nice, big, washable bed to put in the room wherever we are so he can be with us. we discovered over the past two days that we need to put a sign on our front door so people won’t ring the doorbell or knock.. we have a very social neighborhood and everyone comes and goes frequently. Elgin is the perpetual guard dog and is ALWAYS there when someone comes over. These mastiff breeds are so stoic with their pain… when someone is at the door, he gets all bouncy and agitated, not showing the immense pain he’s going through until the person is either gone or sits down to visit with us.

While I am very nervous about putting Elgin through all of this, I am confident he will be more comfortable after the limb is gone.

I gave him a bath and trimmed his toenails tonight. He’s very handsome. We showed the boys pictures of dogs just after they’d had a limb amputated, hoping to lessen the shock of how awful it’s going to look. We stressed how imporant it is to have positive thoughts. At 19 and 13 they get it. I guess they’re not exactly boys anymore, but this is a big deal and we feel everyone should be as prepared as possible.

I tried to take a few pictures of the leg with the tumor. It’s just above the hock on his left back leg.

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What a handsome boy!! It’s best to get things done quickly, and it is going to look different, but your boy will adapt quickly because he’s probably not even using it at this point. For the humans in your family, it may take a while to adjust to his new look, but I’m sure everyone will be fine after a week or so. Best of luck! I’ll be saying prayers and thinking of you all!

Thank you for sharing these photos, they will help others identify issues with there own dogs.

FYI: We re-sized your blog header so it fits in your theme. You may want to review Jerry’s tips for optimizing web images before you quickly consume your free upload space with such high resolution images.

Thank you for helping me with this. SOmetimes the technical stuff gets a little over my head. I appreciate it. I was getting tired looking at just his right ear when I logged in. Now I can see all of him!

Good luck to Elgin! Hoping for a smooth surgery and a speedy and happy recovery. Our Hunter lost his right rear leg because of osteosarcoma on May 30th… and he can still out swim his “sister”! You will be just amazed at their strength and ability to overcome with 3 legs. “Dogs have 3 legs and a spare!”
And thank you for the photos, they will be helpful to others.